Meaning of word participle

In linguistics, a participle (from Latin participium ‘a sharing, partaking’; abbr. PTCP) is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives.^[1] More narrowly, participle has been defined as «a word derived from a verb and used as an adjective, as in a laughing face«.^[2]

“Participle” is a traditional grammatical term from Greek and Latin that is widely used for corresponding verb forms in European languages and analogous forms in Sanskrit and Arabic grammar.

Cross-linguistically, participles may have a range of functions apart from adjectival modification. In European and Indian languages, the past participle is used to form the passive voice. In English, participles are also associated with periphrastic verb forms (continuous and perfect) and are widely used in adverbial clauses. In non-Indo-European languages, ‘participle’ has been applied to forms that are alternatively regarded as converbs (see Sireniki Eskimo below), gerunds, gerundives, transgressives, and nominalised verbs in complement clauses. As a result, ‘participles’ have come to be associated with a broad variety of syntactic constructions.

Etymology[edit]

The word participle comes from classical Latin participium,^[3] from particeps ‘sharing, participation’, because it shares certain properties of verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. The Latin grammatical term is a calque of the Greek grammatical term μετοχή : metochē, ‘participation, participle’.^[4][5]

In particular, Greek and Latin participles agree with the nouns that they modify in gender, number and case, but are also conjugated for tense and voice and can take prepositional and adverbial modifiers.

The linguistic term, past participle, was coined circa 1798^[6] based on its participial form, whose morphology equates to the regular form of preterite verbs. The term, present participle, was first used circa 1864^[7] to facilitate grammatical distinctions. Despite the taxonomical use of «past» and «present» as associated with the aforementioned participles, their respective semantic use can entail any tense, regardless of aspect, depending on how they are structurally combined.

Forms[edit]

Some languages have extensive participial systems but English has only two participial forms, most commonly termed:

1. past participle,^[8] which is regularly formed with an -ed suffix (e.g. looked, ended, tutored) but has numerous irregular forms (e.g. broken, spoken, eaten); and
2. present participle,^[9] which is formed with an -ing suffix (e.g. breaking, making, understanding).

Some grammars further distinguish passive participles^[10] as often associated with passive voice versus active participles^[11] as often associated with e.g. the present progressive tense, but such linguistic distinctions are neither recognized nor employed on a universal basis.

Types of participle[edit]

Participles can be used adjectivally (i.e. without characteristics of canonical verbs) as attributive adjectives. They then take neither object complements nor modifiers that are typical of canonical verbs, but they are capable of being modified by adverbs such as very or slightly. The difference is illustrated by the following examples:

• The subject interesting him at the moment is Greek history.
• Greek history is a very interesting subject.

In the first sentence interesting functions transitively as a nonfinite verb that takes the object him, thereby forming the phrase interesting him, which constitutes an adjectival phrase modifying subject. In the second sentence interesting functions non-transitively; it instead acts as a prepositive adjective that can be modified by typical adverbs such as very or quite (or a prefix such as un-). Similar examples are «interested people», «a frightened rabbit», «fallen leaves», «meat-eating animals».

Participles are often used to form certain grammatical tenses or grammatical aspects. The two types of participle in Modern English are termed present participle and past participle, respectively (often also referred to as the -ing form and -ed/-en form).^[12] The traditional terms are misleading because the participles do not necessarily correspond to tense:^[13] the present participle is often associated with the progressive (continuous) aspect, while the past participle is linked with the perfect aspect or passive voice. See the examples below:

• They were just standing there.^[14]
• By the time you get home I will have cleaned the house.^[15]

The first sentence is in the past tense (were), but a present participle expresses the progressive aspect (be standing). The second sentence is in the future tense (will), but a past participle is used for the perfect aspect (have cleaned).

Participles may also be identified with a particular voice: active or passive. Some languages (such as Latin and Russian) have distinct participles for active and passive uses. In English, the present participle is essentially an active participle, while the past participle has both active and passive uses.

The following examples illustrate this:

• I saw John eating his dinner. (Here eating is an active present participle).
• The bus has gone. (Here gone is an active past participle).
• The window was broken with a rock. (Here broken is a passive past participle)

Some languages differentiate adjectival participles and adverbial participles. An adverbial participle (or a participial phrase/clause based on such a participle) plays the role of an adverbial (adverb phrase) in the sentence in which it appears, whereas an adjectival participle (or a participial phrase/clause based on one) plays the role of an adjective phrase. Such languages include Russian^[16] and other Slavic languages, Hungarian, and many Eskimo languages, such as Sireniki,^[17] which has a sophisticated participle system. Details can be found in the sections below or in the articles on the grammars of specific languages.

Grammatical descriptions vary in the way these are treated. Some descriptive grammars treat such adverbial and adjectival participles as distinct lexical categories, while others include them both in a single category of participles.^[16][18] Adverbial participles in certain languages may be called converbs, gerunds, or gerundives (though this is not consistent with the meanings of the terms gerund or gerundive as normally applied to English or Latin), or transgressives.

Indo-European languages[edit]

Germanic languages[edit]

Early English[edit]

In Old English, past participles of Germanic strong verbs were marked with a ge- prefix, as are most strong and weak past participles in Dutch and German today, and often by a vowel change in the stem. Those of weak verbs were marked by the ending -d, with or without an epenthetic vowel before it. Modern English past participles derive from these forms (although the ge- prefix, which became y- in Middle English, has now been lost — except in some rare dialects such as the Dorset dialect, where it takes the form of a-).

Old English present participles were marked with an ending in -ende (or -iende for verbs whose infinitives ended in -ian).

Middle English[edit]

In Middle English, the form of the present participle varied across regions: -ende (southwest, southeast, Midlands), -inde (southwest, southeast), -and (north), -inge (southeast). The last is the one that became standard, falling together with the suffix -ing used to form verbal nouns. See -ing (etymology).

Modern English[edit]

Modern English includes two traditional terms for its participles:^[19]

• The present participle, also sometimes called the active, imperfect, or progressive participle, takes the ending -ing, for example doing, seeing, working, running, breaking, understanding. It is identical in form to the verbal noun and gerund (see below). The term present participle is sometimes used to include the gerund;^[20] the term «gerund–participle» is also used to indicate the verb form.
• The past participle, also sometimes called the passive or perfect participle, is identical to the past tense form (ending in -ed) in the case of regular verbs, for example «loaded», «boiled», «mounted», but takes various forms in the case of irregular verbs, such as done, sung, written, broken, understood, put, gone, etc.

In addition, various compound participles can be formed, such as having done, being done, having been doing, having been done.^[21]

Details of participle formation can be found under English verbs and List of English irregular verbs.

Participles, or participial phrases (clauses) formed from them, are used as follows:

1. As an adjective used in an attributive sense:

• A broken window (i.e., one that has been broken)
• An interesting book (i.e., one that interests)
• An exciting adventure (i.e., one that excites)
• The attached files (i.e., those that are attached)
• A fallen tree (i.e., one that has fallen)
• Our fallen comrades (i.e., those who have fallen)

Additionally, participles that express an adjectivally attributive meaning can be affixed to form adverbs, such as interestingly and excitedly.

2. In postpositive phrases. These are often regarded as functioning as a reduced relative clause:

• A window broken by the wind (A window that was broken by the wind).
• A woman wearing a red hat (A woman who was wearing a red hat).
• The man standing over there is my uncle (The man who is standing over there is my uncle).
• We are a people clamoring for freedom (We are a people who are clamoring for freedom).

3. In an adverbial phrase. In the following, the subject is understood to be the same as that of the main clause:

• Reviewing her bank statement, Ann started to cry (While she reviewed her bank statement, Ann started to cry).
• Having reviewed the bank statement, Ann started to cry (After she reviewed her bank statement, Ann started to cry).
• He shot the man, killing him (He shot the man and killed him).
• Maintained properly, wooden buildings can last for centuries (If/when they are maintained properly, wooden buildings can last for centuries).

With a different subject, placed before the participle:

• He and I having reconciled our differences, the project then proceeded smoothly (Because/after he and I had reconciled our differences, the project proceeded smoothly). (This is known as the nominative absolute construction.)

More generally as a clause or sentence modifier: 

• Broadly speaking, the project was successful. (See also dangling participle.)

4. Participles are used to form periphrastic verb tenses:

The present participle forms the progressive aspect with the auxiliary verb be: 

• Jim was sleeping.

The past participle forms the perfect aspect with the auxiliary verb have: 

• The chicken has eaten.

5. The past participle is used to form passive voice:

• The chicken was eaten.

Such passive participles can appear in an adjectival phrase: 

• The chicken eaten by the children was contaminated. 

Adverbially: 

• Eaten in this manner, the chicken presents no problem.

And in a nominative absolute construction, with a subject: 

• The chicken eaten, we returned home.

Note that a past participle that complements a stative verb (e.g., «The files that are attached or «Our comrades who have fallen«) becomes a passive participle within a passive voice construct.

6. As a gerund. The gerund is traditionally regarded as distinct from the present participle. A gerund can function transitively (e.g., «I like eating ice cream«) or intransitively (e.g., «I like swimming«). In both instances, a gerund functions nominatively rather than adjectivally or adverbially—whether as an object (e.g., «I like sleeping«) or as a subject (e.g., «Sleeping is not allowed»). Although gerunds and present participles are morphologically identical, their grammatical functions differ substantially.

Sometimes their morphological similarity can create contextual ambiguity, as Noam Chomsky pointed out in his well-known example:^[22]

• Flying planes can be dangerous.

When the meaning is «The practice of flying a plane is dangerous,» flying functions as a gerund; when the danger concerns «Planes that fly» or «Planes when they are flying» (i.e., in contrast to grounded planes), flying is being used adjectivally as a participle. For more on the distinctions between these uses of the -ing verb form, see -ing: uses.

For more details on uses of participles and other parts of verbs in English, see Uses of English verb forms, including the sections on the present participle and past participle.

The following table summarises some of the uses of participles in English:

Active participle usage versus passive participle usage

Example	Tense name	Parsed item	Lexical category	Active	Passive
The baked bread	n/a	baked	past participle (prepositive); adjectival		yes
Bread baked daily	n/a	baked	past participle (postpositive); adjectival		yes
The acting president	n/a	acting	present participle (prepositive); adjectival	yes
The time remaining	n/a	remaining	present participle (postpositive); adjectival	yes
You look lost	present simple	lost	past participle; adjectival		yes
You look charming	present simple	charming	present participle; adjectival	yes
You are lost	present simple	lost	past participle; adjectival (passive voice)		yes
You are losing	present continuous	losing	present participle; aspectual	yes
He has finished	present perfect	finished	past participle; aspectual	yes
He has been finished	present perfect	been	past participle; aspectual (passive voice)		yes
He has been finished	present perfect	finished	past participle; adjectival (passive voice)		yes
He has been finishing	present perfect continuous	finishing	present participle; aspectual	yes
She had been run	past perfect	been	past participle; aspectual (passive voice)		yes
She had been run	past perfect	run	past participle; aspectual (passive voice)		yes
She had been running	past perfect continuous	running	present participle; aspectual	yes
She had been running ragged	past perfect continuous	ragged	past participle; adverbial		yes
She had been running unwillingly	past perfect continuous	unwillingly	suffixed present participle; adverbial		yes

Scandinavian languages[edit]

In all of the Scandinavian languages the past participle has to agree with the noun to some degree. All of the Scandinavian languages have mandatory agreement with the noun in number. Nynorsk and Swedish have mandatory agreement in both number and gender. Icelandic and Faroese have agreement in number, gender and case. The verb form used for the perfect (or «supine») aspect is generally identical to the nominative neuter singular form of the past participle for all verbs. For the present participle there is no agreement.

Examples in Nynorsk:

• Sjølvkøyrande bilar kan vere farlege. (English: self-driving cars can be dangerous)
• Kyllingen vart eten (English: The chicken was eaten)
• Dyret vart ete (English: The deer was eaten)

The participles are marked in bold. The first example involves a present participle and the two latter examples involves a past participle. All present participles end with an -ande suffix.

In Norwegian, the present participle may be used to form adjectives or adverbs denoting the possibility or convenience of performing the action prescribed by the verb. For example:

• Var maten etande? (English: Was the food edible?) (or rather: Was the food any good?)
• Utan servo vert bilen fort ukøyrande. (English: Without power steering, the car soon becomes impossible to drive.) (Lit: un-drivable)

This construction is allowed in Nynorsk, but not in Bokmål, where suffixes like -elig or -bar are used instead.

Latin and Romance languages[edit]

Latin[edit]

Latin grammar was studied in Europe for hundreds of years, especially the handbook written by the 4th-century teacher Aelius Donatus, and it is from Latin that the name and concept of the participle derives. According to Donatus there are four participles in Latin, as follows:^[23]

• present participle: present stem + -ns (gen. -ntis); e.g. legēns (plural legentēs) «(while) reading»
• perfect participle: supine stem + -us, -a, -um; e.g. lēctus «read (by someone)»
• future participle: supine stem + -ūrus, -ūra, -ūrum; e.g. lēctūrus «going to read», «due to read»
• gerundive (sometimes^[24] considered the future passive participle): e.g. legendus «due to be read», «necessary to be read»

However, many modern Latin grammars treat the gerundive as a separate part of speech.^[25]

The perfect participle is usually passive in meaning, and thus mainly formed from transitive verbs, for example frāctus «broken», missus «sent (by someone)». However, certain verbs (called deponent verbs) have a perfect participle in an active sense, e.g. profectus «having set out», hortātus «having encouraged», etc. The present and future participles are always active, the gerundive usually passive.

Because a participle is an adjective as well as a verb, just like any other Latin adjective its ending changes according to the noun it describes. So when the noun is masculine, the participle must be masculine; when the noun is in the accusative (object) case, the participle is also in the accusative case; when the noun has plural endings, the participle also has plural endings. Thus a simple participle such as frāctus «broken» can change to frācta, frāctum, frāctī, frāctō and so on, according to its gender, number, and case.

A participle can have a descriptive meaning like an adjective, or a more dynamic meaning like a verb. Thus in the following sentence the participle strīctō «drawn» is better taken as describing an action («he drew his sword» or «after drawing his sword») rather than as describing the sword («with a drawn sword»):

• Strīctō gladiō ad dormientem Lucrētiam vēnit.^[26]
  «With drawn sword he came to the sleeping Lucretia.»

The dynamic, verbal meaning is more common, and Latin often uses a participle where English might use a simple verb.

The present participle often describes the circumstances attending the main verb. A typical example is:

• Balbus ad mē vēnit currēns.^[27]
  «Balbus came to me running.»

Both the future and the perfect participle (but not the present participle) can be used with various tenses of the verb esse «to be» to make a compound tense such as the future-in-the-past or the perfect passive:

• Eō diē Rōmam ventūrus erat.^[28]
  «On that day he was going to return to Rome.»
• Occīsus est ā Thēbānīs.^[29]
  «He was killed by the Thebans.»

The perfect and future participles can also be used, with or without the verb esse «to be», in indirect speech clauses:

• (Dīxit eōs) locum facile inventūrōs (esse).^[30]
  «He said that they were easily going to find the place / He said that they would find the place easily.»

For uses of the gerundive, see Latin syntax#The gerundive.

French[edit]

There are two basic participles:

• Present active participle: formed by dropping the -ons of the nous form of the present tense of a verb (except with être and avoir) and then adding ant: marchant «walking», étant «being», ayant «having».
• Past participle: formation varies according to verb group: vendu «sold», mis «placed», marché «walked», été «been», and fait «done». The sense of the past participle is passive as an adjective and in most verbal constructions with «avoir», but active in verbal constructions with «être», in reflexive constructions, and with some intransitive verbs.^[31]

Compound participles are possible:

• Present perfect participle: ayant appelé «having called», étant mort «being dead»
• Passive perfect participle: étant vendu «being sold, having been sold»

Usage:

• Present participles are used as qualifiers as in «un insecte volant» (a flying insect) and in some other contexts. They are never used to form tenses. The present participle is used in subordinate clauses, usually with en: «Je marche, en parlant».
• Past participles are used as qualifiers for nouns: «la table cassée» (the broken table); to form compound tenses such as the perfect «Vous avez dit» (you have said) and to form the passive voice: «il a été tué» (he/it has been killed).

Spanish[edit]

In Spanish, the so-called present or active participle (participio activo or participio de presente) of a verb is traditionally formed with one of the suffixes -ante, -ente or -iente, but modern grammar does not consider it a true participle, as such forms usually have the meaning of simple adjectives or nouns: e.g. amante «loving» or «lover», viviente «living» or «live».

Another participle form is known as the gerundio, which ends in an (unchanging) suffix -ando or -iendo. The gerundio is used in combination with the verb estar («to be») to make continuous tenses: for example, estar haciendo means «to be doing» (haciendo being the gerundio of hacer, «to do»), and there are related constructions such as seguir haciendo meaning «to keep doing» (seguir being «to continue»). Another use is in phrases such as vino corriendo («he/she came running») and lo vi corriendo («I saw him running»).

The past participle (participio pasado or participio pasivo) is regularly formed with one of the suffixes -ado or -ido (-ado for verbs ending in «-ar» and -ido for verbs ending in «-er» or «-ir»; but some verbs have an irregular form ending in -to (e.g. escrito, visto, puesto), or -cho (e.g. dicho, hecho).^[32] The past participle is used generally as an adjective referring to a finished action, in which case its ending changes according to gender and number. At other times is used to form compound tenses: the present perfect, past perfect (sometimes referred to as the pluscuamperfecto), and the future perfect, in which case it is indeclinable. Some examples:

As an adjective (note how «escritas» agrees in gender with the noun, «las cartas»):

• las cartas escritas «the written letters»

To form compound tenses:

• Ha escrito una carta. «She (he, it) has written a letter.»
• Había escrito una carta. «She (he, it) had written a letter.»
• Habrá escrito una carta. «She (he, it) will have written a letter.»

Hellenic languages[edit]

Ancient Greek[edit]

The Ancient Greek participle shares in the properties of adjectives and verbs. Like an adjective, it changes form for gender, case, and number. Like a verb, it has tense and voice, is modified by adverbs, and can take verb arguments, including an object.^[33] Participles are quite numerous in Ancient Greek: a non-defective verb has as many as ten participles.

There is a form of the participle for every combination of aspect (present, aorist, perfect, future) and voice (active, middle, passive). All participles are based on their finite forms. Here are the masculine nominative singular forms for a thematic and an athematic verb:

λῡ́ω lū́ō «I release»	active	middle	passive
present	λῡ́ων lū́ōn	λῡόμενος lūómenos
aorist	λῡ́σᾱς lū́sās	λῡσάμενος lūsámenos	λυθείς lutheís
future	λῡ́σων lū́sōn	λῡσόμενος lūsómenos	λυθησόμενος luthēsómenos
perfect	λελυκώς lelukṓs	λελυμένος leluménos

τίθημι títhēmi «I put»	active	middle	passive
present	τιθείς titheís	τιθέμενος tithémenos
aorist	θείς theís	θέμενος thémenos	τεθείς tetheís
future	θήσων thḗsōn	θησόμενος thēsómenos	τεθησόμενος tethēsómenos
perfect	τεθηκώς tethēkṓs	τεθειμένος tetheiménos

Like an adjective, it can modify a noun, and can be used to embed one thought into another.

In the example, the participial phrase τὸν εὖ στρατηγήσοντα tòn eû stratēgḗsonta, literally «the one going to be a good general,» is used to embed the idea εὖ στρατηγήσει eû stratēgḗsei «he will be a good general» within the main verb.

The participle is very widely used in Ancient Greek, especially in prose.

Indo-Aryan languages[edit]

Hindi & Urdu[edit]

There are two types of participles in Hindi & Urdu (called together Hindustani), aspectual participles which mark the aspect and non-aspectual participles which do not mark verbal aspect. The table below mentions the different participles present in Hindustani, ɸ denotes the verb root. The aspectual participles can take a few other copulas after them besides the verb honā «to be». Those copular verbs are rêhna «to stay», ānā «to come», jānā «to go».^[34]

ASPECTUAL PARTICIPLES[35][36] Participles Example baiṭhnā / बैठना / بیٹھنا / to sit Translation DECLINABLE Singular Plural Singular Plural Habitual ♂ ɸ-tā ɸ-tē बैठता بیٹھتا baiṭhtā बैठते بیٹھتے baithtē sits, used to sit ♀ ɸ-tī ɸ-tīm̥ बैठती بیٹھتی baiṭhtī बैठतीं بیٹھتیں baiṭhtīm̥ Perfective ♂ ɸ-(y)ā ɸ-(y)ē बैठा بیٹھا baiṭhā बैठे بیٹھے baiṭhē sat ♀ ɸ-(y)ī ɸ-(y)īm̥ बैठी بیٹھی baiṭhī बैठीं بیٹھیں baiṭhīm̥ Progressive1 ♂ ɸ + rahā ɸ + rahē बैठ रहा بیٹھ رہا baiṭh rahā बैठ रहे بیٹھ رہے baiṭh rahē (in the process of) sitting ♀ ɸ + rahī ɸ + rahīm̥ बैठ रही بیٹھ رہی baiṭh rahī बैठ रहीं بیٹھ رہیں baiṭh rahīm̥ Perfective Adjectival2 ♂ ɸ-(y)ā huā ɸ-(y)ē huē बैठा हुआ بیٹھاہوا baiṭhā huā बैठे हुए بیٹھےہوئے baiṭhē huē sitting ♀ ɸ-(y)ī huī ɸ-(y)ī huīm̥ बैठी हुई بیٹھیہی baiṭhī huī बैठी हुईं بیٹھی ہوئیں baiṭhī huīm̥ Imperfective Adjectival2 ♂ ɸ-tā huā ɸ-tē huē बैठता हुआ بیٹھتا ہوا baiṭhtā huā बैठते हुए بیٹھتے ہوئے baiṭhtē huē (in the process of) sitting ♀ ɸ-tī huī ɸ-tī huīm̥ बैठती हुई بیٹھتی ہی baiṭhtī huī बैठती हुईं بیٹھتی ہوئیں baiṭhtī huīm̥ INDECLINABLE Imperfective Progressive ɸ-tē-ɸ-tē बैठते-बैठते بیٹھتے — بیٹھتے baiṭhtē-baiṭhtē while (in the process of) sitting Perfective Progressive ɸ-ē-ɸ-ē बैठे-बैठे بیٹھے- بیٹھے baiṭhē-baiṭhē while (already) sitting	NON-ASPECTUAL PARTICIPLES [36][37][38][39] Participles Example baiṭhnā / बैठना / بیٹھنا / to sit Translation DECLINABLE Singular Plural Singular Plural Infinitive ♂ ɸ-nā ɸ-nē बैठना بیٹھنا baiṭhnā बैठने بیٹھنے baiṭhnē to sit ♀ ɸ-nī ɸ-nīm̥ बैठनी بیتھنی baiṭhnī बैठनीं بیٹھنیں baiṭhnīm̥ Prospective & Agentive ♂ ɸ-nēvālā ɸ-nēvālē बैठनेवाला بیٹھنولا baiṭhnēvālā बैठनेवाले بیٹھنوالے baiṭhnēvālē (prospective) going to sit (agentive) a person who sits [sit-er] ♀ ɸ-nēvālī ɸ-nēvālīm̥ बैठनेवाली بیٹھنوالی baiṭhnēvālī बैठनेवालीं بیٹھنوالیں baiṭhnēvālīm̥ INDECLINABLE Oblique Infinitive ɸ-nē बैठने بیٹھنے baiṭhnē to sit, sitting Conjunctive ɸ-kē, ɸ-kar बैठके, बैठकर بیٹھکے ، بیٹھکر baiṭhkē, baiṭhkar having done sitting, by sitting
1 The periphrasatic adjectival marker huā, huē, huī, and huīm̥ are shortened to wā, wē, wī, and wīm̥ respectively in colloquial speech.
2 The progressive aspect marking participles rahā, rahē, rahī, and rahīm̥ are shortened to rā, rē, rī, and rīm̥ respectively in colloquial speech.

Sanskrit[edit]

Much like Ancient Greek, Sanskrit has a wide array of participles.

Celtic languages[edit]

Cornish[edit]

In Cornish, an equivalent present participle construction to English is formed by using ow (owth before vowels) with a verbal noun, e.g. Yma an den ow hwerthin («The man is laughing»), and den ow hwerthin («a laughing man»). Like Breton but unlike Welsh, Cornish also has verbal adjectives which are used similarly to English past participles, e.g. dehen molys («clotted cream»), from the verbal noun mola «to clot».

Welsh[edit]

In Welsh, the effect of a participle in the active voice is constructed by yn followed by the verb-noun (for the present participle) and wedi followed by the verb-noun (for the past participle). There is no mutation in either case. In the passive voice, participles are usually replaced by a compound phrase such as wedi cael ei/eu («having got his/her/their …ing») in modern Welsh and by the impersonal form in literary Welsh.

Slavic languages[edit]

Polish[edit]

The Polish word for participle is imiesłów (pl.: imiesłowy). There are four types of imiesłowy in two classes:

Adjectival participle (imiesłów przymiotnikowy):

• active adjectival participle (imiesłów przymiotnikowy czynny): robiący – «doing», «one who does»
• passive adjectival participle (imiesłów przymiotnikowy bierny): robiony – «being done» (can only be formed off transitive verbs)

Adverbial participle (imiesłów przysłówkowy):

• present adverbial participle (imiesłów przysłówkowy współczesny): robiąc – «doing», «while doing»
• perfect adverbial participle (imiesłów przysłówkowy uprzedni): zrobiwszy – «having done» (formed in virtually all cases off verbs in their perfective forms, here denoted by the prefix z-)

Due to the distinction between adjectival and adverbial participles, in Polish it is practically impossible to make a dangling participle in the classical English meaning of the term. For instance, in the sentence:

• I found them hiding in the closet.

it is unclear whether «I» or «they» were hiding in the closet. In Polish there is a clear distinction:

• Znalazłem ich, chowając się w szafie. – chowając is a present adverbial participle agreeing grammatically with the subject («I»)
• Znalazłem ich chowających się w szafie. – chowających is an active adjectival participle agreeing grammatically with the object («them»)

Russian[edit]

Verb: слышать [ˈsɫɨ.ʂɐtʲ] (to hear, imperfective aspect)

• Present active: слышащий [ˈsɫɨ.ʂɐ.ɕːɪj] «hearing», «who hears»
• Present passive: слышимый [ˈsɫɨ.ʂɨ̞.mɨ̞j] «being heard», «that is heard», «audible»
• Past active: слышавший [ˈsɫɨ.ʂɐf.ʂɨ̞j] «who heard», «who was hearing»
• Past passive: слышанный [ˈsɫɨ.ʂɐn.nɨ̞j] «that was heard», «that was being heard»
• Adverbial present active: слыша [ˈsɫɨ.ʂɐ] «(while) hearing»
• Adverbial past active: слышав [ˈsɫɨ.ʂɐf] » (while) hearing «

Verb: услышать [ʊˈsɫɨ.ʂɐtʲ] (to hear, perfective aspect)

• Past active: услышавший [ʊˈsɫɨ.ʂɐf.ʂɨ̞j] «who has heard»
• Past passive: услышанный [ʊˈsɫɨ.ʂɐn.nɨ̞j] «who has been heard»
• Adverbial past active: услышав [ʊˈsɫɨ.ʂɐf] «having heard»

Future participles formed from perfective verbs are not considered a part of standard language.^[40]

Bulgarian[edit]

Participles are adjectives formed from verbs. There are various kinds:

Verb: правя [pravja] (to do, imperfective aspect):

• Present active: правещ [pravešt]
• Past active aorist: правил [pravil]
• Past active imperfect: правел [pravel] (only used in verbal constructions)
• Past passive: правен [praven]
• Adverbial present active: правейки [pravejki]

Verb: направя [napravja] (to do, perfective aspect):

• Past active aorist: направил [napravil]
• Past active imperfect: направел [napravel] (only used in verbal constructions)
• Past passive: направен [napraven]

Macedonian[edit]

Macedonian has completely lost or transformed the participles of Common Slavic, unlike the other Slavic languages. The following points may be noted:^[41]

• present active participle: this has transformed into a verbal adverb;
• present passive participle: there are some isolated cases or remnants of the present passive participle, such as the word лаком [lakom] (greedy);
• past active participle: there is only one remnant of the past active participle, which is the word бивш [bivš] (former). However, this word is often replaced with the word поранешен [poranešen] (former);
• past passive participle: this has been transformed into a verbal adjective (it behaves like a normal adjective);
• resultative participle: this has transformed into a verbal l-form (глаголска л-форма). It is not a participle since it doesn’t function attributively.

Baltic languages[edit]

Lithuanian[edit]

Among Indo-European languages, the Lithuanian language is unique for having fourteen different participial forms of the verb, which can be grouped into five when accounting for inflection by tense. Some of these are also inflected by gender and case. For example, the verb eiti («to go, to walk») has the active participle forms einąs/einantis («going, walking», present tense), ėjęs (past tense), eisiąs (future tense), eidavęs (past frequentative tense), the passive participle forms einamas («being walked», present tense), eitas (“walked” past tense), eisimas (future tense), the adverbial participles einant («while [he, different subject] is walking» present tense), ėjus (past tense), eisiant (future tense), eidavus (past frequentative tense), the semi-participle eidamas («while [he, the same subject] is going, walking») and the participle of necessity eitinas («that which needs to be walked»). The active, passive, and the semi-participles are inflected by gender, and the active, passive, and necessity ones are inflected by case.

Semitic languages[edit]

Arabic[edit]

The Arabic verb has two participles: an active participle (’ism al-fā‘il اسم الفاعل) and a passive participle (’ism al-maf‘ūl اسم المفعول), and the form of the participle is predictable by inspection of the dictionary form of the verb. These participles are inflected for gender, number and case, but not person. Arabic participles are employed syntactically in a variety of ways: as nouns, as adjectives or even as verbs. Their uses vary across varieties of Arabic. In general the active participle describes a property of the syntactic subject of the verb from which it derives, whilst the passive participles describes the object. For example, from the verb كتب kataba, the active participle is kātib كاتب and the passive participle is maktūb مكتوب. Roughly these translate to «writing» and «written» respectively. However, they have different, derived lexical uses. كاتب kātib is further lexicalized as «writer», «author» and مكتوب maktūb as «letter».

In Classical Arabic these participles do not participate in verbal constructions with auxiliaries the same way as their English counterparts do, and rarely take on a verbal meaning in a sentence (a notable exception being participles derived from motion verbs as well as participles in Qur’anic Arabic). In certain dialects of Arabic however, it is much more common for the participles, especially the active participle, to have verbal force in the sentence. For example, in dialects of the Levant, the active participle is a structure that describes the state of the syntactic subject after the action of the verb from which it derives has taken place. ʼĀkil, the active participle of ʼakala («to eat»), describes one’s state after having eaten something. Therefore, it can be used in analogous way to the English present perfect (for example, ʼAnā ʼākil انا آكل meaning «I have eaten», «I have just eaten» or «I have already eaten»). Other verbs, such as rāḥa راح («to go») give a participle (rāyiḥ رايح), which has a progressive («is going…») meaning. The exact tense or continuity of these participles is therefore determined by the nature of the specific verb (especially its lexical aspect and its transitivity) and the syntactic/semantic context of the utterance. What ties them all together is that they describe the subject of the verb from which they derive. The passive participles in certain dialects can be used as a sort of passive voice, but more often than not, are used in their various lexicalized senses as adjectives or nouns.

Hebrew[edit]

Like Arabic, Hebrew has two types of participles (בינוני bênônî): an active participle (בינוני פועל bênônî pô‘ēl) and a passive participle (בינוני פעול bênônî pā‘ûl). These participles are inflected for gender and number, but not case, unlike Arabic. The active participle takes a variety of syntactic roles, such as a verb in present tense, a noun, and an adjective.^{[citation needed]}

Hebrew has a syntactic construction of the verb «to be» (הָיָה) hayá in the past tense, and the active participle that cognates to the past progressive tense in English. For example, the word עבדתי avádti means «I worked», and הייתי עובד hayíti ovéd means «I was working». Another use of this syntactic structure is equivalent to «used to» in English. For example, דויד בילדותו היה גר בארצות הברית davíd b’yaldutó hayá gar b’arcót habrít (David in his childhood used to live in the United States).^{[citation needed]}

Finno-Ugric languages[edit]

Finnish[edit]

Finnish uses six participles (partisiippi) to convey different meanings. Below is a table displaying the declension of the participles of the verb tappaa (to kill).

Finnish Participles

	Active	Passive
Present	tappava	tapettava
Past	tappanut	tapettu

Agent	tappama-
Negative	tappamaton

The participles work in the following way:

tappava	Present active participle: Conveys an ongoing action. Used to omit the use of the relative pronoun who, which or that. Tappava means «killing» as in «killing machine». In other words, machine that kills. It can also work as the subject of the sentence. In other words, tappava can mean «the one who kills» or «he who kills». Tappava on… = He who kills is…
tapettava	Present passive participle: Conveys possibility and obligation. Possibility as in -able (killable) and obligation as in something that has to be killed. Tapettava mies can mean both «the killable man» (possibility) and «the man who has to be killed» (obligation).
tappanut	Past active participle: Used with the verb olla (to be) to construct the perfect and the past perfect tenses. In English the verb «to have» is used to form the perfect and past perfect tense (I have/had killed), in Finnish the verb «to be» is used instead (minä olen/olin tappanut). Just like the present active participle, it can also be used as the subject in a sentence, except it conveys the meaning in the past tense. In other words, tappanut can mean «the one who killed» or «he who killed». Tappanut on… = He who killed is…
tapettu	Past passive participle: A concluded action. Tapettu mies = the killed man.
tappama-	Agent participle: Always used with a possessive suffix. It is used to convey the meaning of the word «by» in English, since there is no word for «by» in Finnish. Hänen tappamansa mies = The man killed by him. The tense of the translation depends on the context.
tappamaton	Negative participle: Used to convey impossibility (unkillable) and undoneness (not killed). Tappamaton mies means both «unkillable man» and «man (who is) not killed».

Each and every one of these participles can be used as adjectives, which means that some of them can be turned into nouns.

Finnish (adjective)	tappava	tapettava	tappamaton
English (adjective)	killing	killable	unkillable (possibility) or not killed (undoneness)
Finnish (noun)	tappavuus	tapettavuus	tappamattomuus
English (noun)	killingness	killability	unkillability (possibility) or lack of killing (undoneness)

Hungarian[edit]

Hungarian uses adjectival and adverbial participles.

Adjectival participles (melléknévi igenév) can be one of these three types:

• Present (active): olvas (read) – olvasó (reading), él (live) – élő (living)
• Past (usually passive): zár (close) – zárt (closed)
• Future (has a modal meaning): olvas (read) – olvasandó (to be read), fizet (pay) – fizetendő (to be paid)

Adverbial participles (határozói igenév) can be:

• Imperfect: siet (hurry) – sietve (hurrying, i.e. in a hurrying manner)
• Perfect: bemegy (go in) – bemenvén (having gone in) (this form is rarely used in modern Hungarian)

In Hungarian grammar the infinitive is also considered a kind of participle, namely the noun participle (főnévi igenév).

Turkic languages[edit]

Turkish[edit]

Participles are called sıfat-fiil (lit. adjective-verb) or ortaç in Turkish.^[42]

Turkish participles consist of a verb stem and a suffix. Some participles may be conjugated, but some may not. Participles always precede the noun they are defining, unlike in English.

Participle suffixes, like many other suffixes in Turkish, change according to the vowel harmony and sandhi.

There are eight types of participle suffixes; -en, -esi, -mez, -ar, -di(k/ği) -ecek and -miş ^[43][44]

Eskimo-Aleut languages[edit]

Sireniki Eskimo[edit]

Sireniki Eskimo language, an extinct Eskimo–Aleut language, has separate sets of adverbial participles and adjectival participles. Different from in English, adverbial participles are conjugated to reflect the person and number of their implicit subjects; hence, while in English a sentence like «If I were a marksman, I would kill walruses» requires two full clauses (to distinguish the two verbs’ different subjects), in Sireniki Eskimo one of these may be replaced with an adverbial participle (since its conjugation indicates the subject).

Constructed languages[edit]

Esperanto[edit]

Esperanto has six different participle conjugations; active and passive for past, present and future. The participles are formed as follows:

	Past	Present	Future
Active	-inta	-anta	-onta
Passive	-ita	-ata	-ota

For example, a falonta botelo is a bottle that will fall or is about to fall. A falanta botelo is one that is falling through the air. After it hits the floor, it is a falinta botelo. These examples use the active participles, but the usage of the passive participles is similar. A cake that is going to be divided is a dividota kuko. When it is in the process of being divided, it is a dividata kuko. Having been cut, it is now a dividita kuko.

These participles can be used in conjunction with the verb to be, esti, forming 18 compound tenses (9 active and 9 passive). However, this soon becomes complicated and often unnecessary, and is only frequently used when rigorous translation of English is required. An example of this would be la knabo estos instruita, or, the boy will have been taught. This example sentence is then in the future anterior.

When the suffix -o is used, instead of -a, then the participle refers to a person. A manĝanto is someone who is eating. A manĝinto is someone who ate. A manĝonto is someone who will eat. Also, a manĝito is someone who was eaten, a manĝato is someone who is being eaten, and a manĝoto is someone who will be eaten.

These rules hold true for all transitive verbs. Since copular and intransitive verbs do not have passive voice, their participle forms can only be active.

An informal and unofficial addition to these six are the participles for conditional forms, which use -unt- and -ut-. For example, parolunto refers to someone who would speak (or would have spoken), and a leguta libro is a book that would be read (or have been read). These unofficial participle forms are however very rarely used in practice.

See also[edit]

• Attributive verb
• Gerund
• Grammar
• Hanging participle
• Nonfinite verb
• Transgressive (linguistics)
• Converb

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• Participles from the American Heritage Book of English Usage (1996).
• Quirk, R; Greenbaum, S; Leech, G.; Svartvik, J. (1972). A Grammar of Contemporary English. Longman.

External links[edit]

• List of English simple past and past participle verb forms from myenglishteacher.net
• Ernest De Witt Burton: Moods and Tenses of New Testament Greek. The adverbial participle

Last Updated:
10 Apr 2023
— Updated example sentences

Participle definition: A participle is formed from a verb and modifies a noun, noun phrase, verb, or verb phrase. A participle most often ends in –ed or –ing.

What does participle mean? A participle is formed from a verb and modifies a noun, noun phrase, verb, or verb phrase. Most often, a participle functions as an adjective.

A participle most often ends in –ed or –ing (except for some irregular verbs).

Participle Examples:

• Verb: to run
• Participle: running
• Sentence: He is a running machine.

In this example of a participle, the verb “to run” is used. “Running” becomes the participle as it is used as an adjective to describe “machine.” What kind of machine is he? A running machine.

• Verb: to smile
• Participle: smiling
• Sentence: He is a smiling clown.

Similarly, in this example, the verb becomes the participle. What kind of clown is he? A smiling clown.

Different Types of Participles

Present Participles

What is a present participle? Present participles are formed from the infinitive of a verb. Adding “-ing” to the infinitive from will create the present participle.

• Verb: to jump
• Participle: jumping

When to use present participles: Present participles are used to form adjectives and to create verb tenses.

Some examples include:

• Adjectives
  • jumping dog
  • flowering tree
• Verb Tenses
  • I am thinking. (present perfect)
  • I was thinking. (past progressive)

Note: Some verbs with short vowel sounds will require an extra consonant, as in the “running” example above.

Past Participles

What is a past participle? Past participles are formed from the past tense of a verb. Past participles most often end in –ed (except for some irregular verbs).

• Verb: to jump
• Past tense: jumped
• Past participle: jumped
• Irregular verb: to break
• Past tense: broke
• Past participle: broken

When to use past participles: Past participles are used to form adjectives and to create verb tenses.

Some examples include:

• Adjectives
  • spotted dog
  • painted sky
• Verb Tenses
  • I had thought. (past perfect)
  • I have thought. (present perfect)

Perfect Participles

What is a perfect participle? Perfect participles are formed from the infinitive of the verb “to have” and adding “-ing.” Perfect participles will always start with “having” and be followed by a past participle.

• Present participle: having
• Past participle: learned
• Perfect participle: having learned

Perfect participles always explain an action that has already taken place.

• Having learned the news of my grandfather’s passing, I booked a flight to Amsterdam.

What are the Functions of Participles?

Participles as Multipart Verbs:

Present and past participles may be used to create verb forms. The verb forms include perfect and progressive tenses.

Example verb infinitive: to walk

• I was walking. (past progressive)
• I had walked. (past perfect)
• I had been walking. (past perfect progressive)
• I am walking. (present progressive)
• I have walked. (present perfect)
• I have been walking. (present perfect progressive)
• I will be walking (future progressive)
• I will have walked (future perfect)
• I will have been walking (future perfect progressive)

Participles as Adjectives:

Present and past participles may be used as adjectives to modify nouns. Participles as adjectives will answer the question “What kind?” in relation to the noun.

• textured surface
  • What kind of surface? Textured.
• blackened chicken
  • What kind of chicken? Blackened.
• rumbling thunder
  • What kind of thunder? Rumbling.
• babbling brook
  • What kind of brook? Babbling.
• smoked fish
  • The brothers Zach and Alex Frankel were reared on the Upper West Side of Manhattan but live in Brooklyn now and missed the local smoked fish emporiums of their childhood. –The New York Times
  • What kind of fish? Smoked.

Participle Phrases vs. Gerunds

A participle that ends in “-ing” looks like a gerund. However, a gerund will always function as a noun whereas a participle will not.

• Verb: to swim
• Present participle: swimming
• Gerund: swimming

Example of present participle in use:

• The swimming pool is heated for the summer.
  • Here, “swimming” functions as an adjective to modify “pool.”

Example of gerund in use:

• Swimming is my favorite sport.
  • Here, “swimming” functions as a noun and subject of the sentence.

Summary: What are Participles?

Define participle: The definition of participle is the form of a verb that can function independently as an adjective. In summary, a participle:

• usually ends in –ed or –ing
• modifies a noun, noun phrase, verb, or verb phrase
• should not be confused with a gerund

Examples of Participles:

• Baked beans.
• Stuffed chicken.
• Crying baby.

Contents

• 1 What is a Participle?
• 2 Different Types of Participles
• 3 Present Participles
• 4 Past Participles
• 5 Perfect Participles
• 6 What are the Functions of Participles?
• 7 Participle Phrases vs. Gerunds
• 8 Summary: What are Participles?

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English participle, from Old French participle (1388), variant of participe, from Latin participium.

Pronunciation[edit]

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɑːˈtɪsɪpəl/, /ˈpɑːtɪsɪpəl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑɹtɪˌsɪpəl/

Noun[edit]

participle (plural participles)

1. (grammar) A form of a verb that may function as an adjective or noun. English has two types of participles: the present participle and the past participle. In other languages, there are others, such as future, perfect, and future perfect participles.

Usage notes[edit]

Contemporary English constructs the perfect, progressive and progressive perfect aspects, and the passive voice from participles and auxiliary verbs. The tense is always expressed through the auxiliary verb.

• I have asked. (present tense, perfect aspect)
• I am asking. (present tense, progressive aspect)
• I am asked. (present tense, passive voice)

When not combined with have or be, participles are almost always adjectives and can form adjectival phrases called participial phrases. Nouns can occasionally be derived from these adjectives:

• the following items
• the following
• the dying victims
• the dying

In English, participles typically end in -ing, -ed or -en.

A present participle ending in -ing has the same form but a different function from a verbal noun called a gerund. Sometimes a present participle (adjective) is mistakenly called a gerund (noun).

Hypernyms[edit]

• verbal

Hyponyms[edit]

• active participle
• future participle
• passive participle
• past participle
• perfect passive participle
• present participle

Derived terms[edit]

• gerund-participle

Translations[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• participle at OneLook Dictionary Search
• participle in Britannica Dictionary

Definition of Participle

A participle, in grammatical terms, is the form of a verb that ends either in present participle, with “-ing,” or in past participle, with “-ed.” The word “participle” finds its origins in the Latin word participium, which means “sharing, partaking, or participating.” When it combines with auxiliary verbs, it shows an aspect, voice, or tense of the verb. It also works as an independent adjective in its “-ing” form, such as in the sentence, “Newport harbor lay stretched out in the distance, with the rising moon casting a long, wavering track of silver upon it” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe), the underlined word “rising” is an independent adjective.

Types of Participle

1. Present Participle – Present participles express active actions and work as adjectives. They end in “-ing,” such as carrying, tapping, and sharing. For example;
   1. I like that shining star.
   2. A laughing girl is stronger than a complaining girl.

Here shining, laughing and complaining are the examples of present participles.

1. Past Participle – Past participles appear with passive actions. The past participle of regular verbs ends in “-ed,” and the past participle of irregular verbs ends in “-d,” “-n,” “-en,” or “-t,” such as spent, broken, and opened, etc. For example:
   1. She has learned
   2. Do not waste your time looking at a closed

Here learned and closed are examples of past participles.

1. Perfect Participle – A perfect participle is created by adding the word “having” to a past participle. The perfect participle demonstrates an action that occurred in the past. It appears like this: “Having + past participle …” For instance:
   1. Having read a horror book, the girl rushed out of her room.
   2. Having washed the dishes, Mary sat down to relax.

In these sentences the actions of reading and washing the dishes were completed in the past. Also, one action occurred after the other: the girl rushed out of the room after she read the book; and Mary relaxed after she washed the dishes.

Examples of Participles in Literature

Example #1: Will in the World (by Stephen Greenblatt)

“I believe in broken, fractured, complicated narratives, but I believe in narratives as a vehicle for truth, not simply as a form of entertainment.”

This example has used all past participles, as shown underlined: “broken,” “fractured,” and “complicated.” The past participle of the irregular verb is “broken,” while remaining are past participles of regular verbs.

Example #2: The Farmer’s Children (by Elizabeth Bishop)

“The new home stood beside the macadamized ‘new’ road and was high and boxlike, painted yellow with a roof of glittering tin.”

This is another example that uses past participle “painted.” This past participle is functioning as an adjective, indicating what happened in the past.

Example #3: Christmas Gift (by Robert Penn Warren)

“During the thunderstorm, the frightened cat hid under the bed.
The clock, its face supported by plump cupids of painted china, ticked with a small busy sound.”

This example has used the past participles “frightened” and “painted.” Both end in “-ed,” indicating that the actions have occurred in past.

Example #4: The Wondrous Wood Duck (by Jack Denton Scott)

“The ducks come on swift, silent wings, gliding through the treetops as if guided by radar, twisting, turning, never touching a twig in that thick growth of trees that surrounded the lake.”

All the participles in this example are present participles, mentioning actions that are happening in present tense. They are “gliding,” “twisting,” “turning,” and “touching” as underlined.

Example #5: The Chaste Planet (by John Updike)

“Leaking from restaurant walls, beamed into airports as they landed and automobiles as they crashed, chiming from steeples, thundering from parade grounds, tingling through apartment walls, carried through the streets in small boxes, violating even the peace of desert and the forest, where drive-ins featured blue musical comedies…”

In this passage, there are two past participles: “beamed” and “carried.” All the other underlined words are present participles, ending in “-ing.” These include “leaking,” “chiming,” “thundering,” “tingling,” and “violating.”

Example #6 The Old man and the Sea (by Earnest Hemingway)

“They picked up the gear from the boat. The old man carried the mast on his shoulder and the boy carried the wooden boat with the coiled, hard-braided brown lines, the gaff and the harpoon with its shaft. They walked up the road together to the old man’s shack and went in through its open door. The old man leaned the mast with its wrapped sail against the wall…”

Hemingway has written this entire passage in past participles, telling what happened in the past – how the old man and the boy managed to be ready for fishing.

Function of Participle

Participles play various major roles in a sentence. They function as parts of verbs or nouns or adjectives. Due to their unique features of modifying the modifiers, such as adjectives and adverbs, participles are mostly used to beautify a piece of poetry or prose. They also connect sentences with one another for coherence, and show timing of the actions.